Next thing is to create a foundation for the SAP systems management and SAP computer operations, by creating a SAP operations manual and by evaluating SAP management applications. The manual is a collection of current state system documentation, day-to-day and other regularly scheduled operations tasks, various installation and operations checklists and how-to process documents.
Functional, integration and regression testing
Testing is very important before going live with any system. Before going live with a SAP system, it is vital to do many different kinds of testing, since there is often a large, complex infrastructure of hardware and software involved. Both requirements as well as quality parameters are to be tested. Important types of testing are:
- Functional testing: to test using functional use cases, i.e. a set of conditions or variables under which a tester will determine if a certain business process works
- Integration testing
- Regression testing
All tests should be preceded by creating solid test plans.
Final preparation
The last phase before going live can be referred to as the final preparation phase and is depicted below.
Systems and stress testing
Another vital preparation activity before going live with SAP is systems and stress testing. This means planning, scripting, executing and monitoring system and stress tests, to see if the expectations of the end users, defined in service level agreements, will be met. This can be done with SAP’s standard application benchmarks, to benchmark the organization’s configurations against configurations that have been tested by SAP’s hardware technology partners. Again, a test plan should be created at first.
Prepare for cutover
The final phase before going live with SAP is often referred to as the cutover phase, which is the process of transitioning from one system to a new one. The organization needs to plan, prepare and execute the cutover, by creating a cutover plan that describes all cutover tasks that have to be performed before the actual go-live. Examples of cutover tasks are:
- Review and update all systems-related operations procedures like backup policies and system monitoring
- Assign ownership of SAP’s functional processes to individuals
- Let SAP AG do a GoingLive check, to get their blessing to go live with the system
- Lock down the system, i.e. do not make any more changes to the SAP system
Go Live
All of the previously described phases all lead towards this final moment: the go-live. Go-live means to turn on the SAP system for the end-users and to obtain feedback on the solution and to monitor the solution. It is also the moment where product software adoption comes into play. More information on this topic:
- Product Software Adoption: Big Bang Adoption
- Product Software Adoption: Parallel Adoption
- Product Software Adoption: Phased Adoption